The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
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Book Reviews of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Book Review: Intrigue, murder, violence and love!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an outstanding book for a reader who wants an intellectual murder story mixed with unusual historical Swedish commerce, family saga, fascism and corruption. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and as an American, I learned more than I thought I would about the structure of Sweden's system.
The story revolves around Mikael Blomkvist, who although he is convicted of libel, is hired by the scion of the prominent Vanger family to solve a possible murder (many years prior) of his niece, Harriet Vanger. The book contained a page of the family tree which I bookmarked separately as I need to keep referring to the vast family for clarification.
Blomkvist is characterized a brilliant journalist and a ladies' man who is hardworking and determined to chronicle the murder and the Vanger biography. The family is rife with selfish, crazy and egocentric people which makes the story interesting on every page.
Paired with Blomkvist is Lisbeth Salander, a 24 year old, who had a deplorable childhood. She is a brilliant investigator and computer hacker with a determined streak of violence. She was a very believable character. I have known some young American women who came up through the foster system and her plight and anger seemed quite realistic to me.
In addition to the corruption that unfolds, I was somewhat astonished to learn how many Swedish women are subjected to sexual assault.
This is one of the best novels I have read in a long time. The translation, I trust, is excellent. It is very sad to know that Steig Larsson died so young. He certainly was a gifted and brilliant novelist. I am looking forward to the next releases of his books in the US.
Book Review: Action, Coffee, Romance, and Mystery... sign me up!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fantastic mystery novel with strong character development and a delightful combination of action, romance, and of course, intrigue and mystery, to keep readers glued to its pages. I've been busy recommending this book to my friends, and I'm confident that you will find yourself doing the same.
I live in Sweden but unfortunately I'm not literate enough in Swedish to read this in its original language. I bought the English version at a bookstore before my flight to Miami - the flight was 9 hours, and I was done before I landed. It was THAT good.
As a transplant, some of the cool things about reading this book is a) understanding the cultural nuances presented in the book, and b) being able to recognize streets and other significant landmarks. If you've ever visited Sweden or lived in Sweden, you'll know how important coffee drinking is to the culture here. The author does not hide this detail and with the amount of coffee that the main characters drink, I still can't understand why they haven't opened up a Starbucks in Sweden.
There are a lot of names and characters mentioned in this book so it's a little hard to keep track of who's good and who's bad sometimes, but fortunately the author helpfully included a family tree at the very beginning. I recommend that you dog ear that page as you will be flipping back to it constantly!
Overall, a fantastic read - it's just too bad the other books won't go on sale for a while (2009 for the second one and 2010 for the last one). Just to be able to read the other two books is almost reason enough to learn Swedish!
Book Review: Tasty mix of business (in this case finance) with pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviews I read had me unsure whether I would enjoy this book, and I was surprised to find myself drawn in so immediately. It was so difficult to put this book down, and the story had me so engrossed that it entered my dreams.
I was sad to learn the author passed away, but am looking forward to the next two novels in this series.
The plot moves a brisk pace, and I did not find its meanderings to be especially predictable, either (a few sexual situations aside).
I know NOTHING about Swedish life and even less about finance. Another author's detailed explanations of both could have easily bored or distracted me, but Larsson managed to make them interesting topics and even characters in their own right.
The characters are all flawed and believable. The possible exception to this is Lisbeth. She is nearly impossible to relate to and little is explained about how she became the way she is. Somehow despite all this, she became the most 'real' character to me by the novel's end.
I would place this novel is in a category with "The Thirteenth Tale," "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox," and "The Historian." It is a tense read, a deep and layered mystery. At times it is sexually-charged, at times disturbing, and often both at once. It is not an upsetting read however.. there is enough balance between the light and dark aspects of the story.
Overall, this is a great thriller with dark overtones. Most readers won't let the sometimes ugly themes overwhelm the mystery and intrigue of the novel.
Book Review: Pleasantly Surprising Page Turner..
Summary: 5 Stars
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the more satisfying books I've read in a while.
TGWTDT is a tightly written, forward-moving murder mystery that effectively blends a who-done-it plot with family drama, corporate espionage, flawed characters, a bit of atypical sexual practices and, of course, a love story. The result is a pleasantly surprising page turner that keeps you guessing along the way. And you'll find yourself rooting for the two main characters to connect on a level that transcends physical, but you'll be wondering all the while if they are emotionally able to do so. You may be surprised.
The only down side is that TGWTDT is a story of a large Swedish family. Consequently, there are a lot of people, and relationships/history, with which the reader must keep straight. And, the fact that the names are likely more common in Sweden than in the U.S. doesn't make the job any easier. Fortunately the author/publisher inserted a nice little family-tree diagram in the beginning to aid the reader in this task.
Also, though the very ending (I'm talking the last 10 pages) was anticipated it was not very satisfying.
In all, a very enjoyable read that had me reluctant to put it down, and anxious to pick it up.
FYI - the author died before publication. However, he apparently submitted two additional manuscripts at the time he submitted TGWTDT. Knopf is planning on publishing both. In fact, The Girl Who Played with Fire is scheduled for release July 2009.
Book Review: Wow!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first heard of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" on the Jay Leno show.
That being said, I don't usually go for authors whom I am not familiar with. I stick to tried and tested authors like Lee Child and Stephen Hunter and the like..but seeing all the hype this debut author's book created I decided to give this one a chance. Boy! I wasn't disappointed!
My first reaction to the book was doubt seeing it's bulk. A solid 500+ pages. I am not very patient in reading long novels. But once I started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatttoo, I couldn't stop and was finished with it over a weekend.
It started kinda slow...about some financial reporter and his investigation and some high finance stuff that made me think if I made a mistake starting reading this. But it soon picked up pace and every chapter end, I was slapped in the face with a new revelation that kept me going farther and farther into the book. a decades old cold case Murder, a sleepy small town, suspicious townsfolk who are all suspects in the investigation etc., makes this book truly worthwhile.
This book is full of shock and awe. I can assure that. I even gifted this book to my cousin and he loves it too.
I am only sad that the author is no more and his creations are limited to three books. I can't wait till January when the next book in this series is due to come out.
Read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and you'll soon be writing praise about it too. A solid 5 stars!!